Can onychomycosis really spread to two people? If you don't pay attention to these things, you may also be infected!

With the slogan "If you have onychomycosis, you can infect two others", this non-fatal but annoying problem has become a household name. So what exactly is this difficult to treat and contagious onychomycosis? In fact, the root cause of onychomycosis is fungal infection of the nail or the skin under the nail , which is medically called onychomycosis or onychomycosis.

Therefore, onychomycosis is contagious to a certain extent. It can not only be transmitted to the adjacent nails and skin of the body, but also to people around you.

Once you have onychomycosis, the nails will gradually be "gnawed away" by the fungus. The nails will gradually show external changes such as turbidity, discoloration, dullness, thickening, uneven surface, and the texture will become brittle and easy to break. Moreover, this process of nail metamorphosis will gradually spread from the local part of the nail to the entire nail, until the entire nail becomes an ugly white, yellow or gray-brown. In addition, as the fungus invades, the nail will separate from the skin and flesh, and a cavity will be formed on the nail bed , which is not only conducive to the reproduction of fungi, but also harbors dirt and even emits an unpleasant odor.

Having onychomycosis not only affects the appearance, but also brings discomfort. Onychomycosis can cause ingrown nails and paronychia, which often make patients feel unbearable pain and difficult to walk. Although the prevalence of onychomycosis is not as high as athlete's foot, it is also a problem that deserves attention.

After all, if you ignore it, it won't heal on its own, but will get worse.

In addition, the athlete's foot we are familiar with is also called tinea pedis, which is also caused by fungal infection like onychomycosis. These two diseases can be mutually contagious, so many people have both athlete's foot and onychomycosis. About one-third of patients with athlete's foot also suffer from onychomycosis.

01

What does onychomycosis look like?

Common onychomycosis can be divided into four types: white superficial type, distal lateral subungual type, proximal subungual type, and total nail destruction type. In simple terms, it is divided according to the severity and distribution range of the infection.

White superficial onychomycosis: It usually manifests as white turbid spots or flakes on the shallow layer of the nails. At the same time, the surface of the nails will be a little uneven and lack a healthy luster.

Distal lateral subungual onychomycosis: It is generally caused by the infection of tinea pedis and tinea manuum, usually manifested as thickening, discoloration, and damage on one side of the nail edge. The fungus will start from this corner and gradually invade and infect other parts of the nail.

Proximal subungual onychomycosis: Symptoms mainly occur at the root of the nail. The fungus invades from the cuticle at the junction of the root of the nail and the skin, and gradually spreads to the distal end.

Full nail destruction type onychomycosis: This type is the final result of the above three types of onychomycosis. The entire nail plate will be eroded by fungi, showing discoloration or even falling off. At the same time, the nail bed will become thickened and flaky.

02

How to treat onychomycosis?

Although onychomycosis looks a bit scary, it is actually not difficult to treat. All you need is your patience.

The first thing to do when you have onychomycosis is not to buy a box of medicine that claims to cure onychomycosis, nor to go to a street pedicure shop to use their secret recipe to treat your nails; instead, go to the hospital, make an appointment with a dermatologist, and discuss the appropriate treatment plan with the doctor.

The diagnosis of onychomycosis mainly relies on the combination of symptoms and fungal examination. The examination is also very simple. You can draw a conclusion by scraping some nail scrapings and observing them under a microscope.

It should be emphasized that fungal examination is very necessary because there are other diseases that may cause changes similar to onychomycosis, such as nail psoriasis, nail lichen planus, nail dystrophy, etc.

Many people think that nail removal is necessary to treat onychomycosis, but in fact, it is not necessary in most cases. The main treatment method is oral antifungal drugs, combined with topical antifungal drugs, which are highly effective in killing fungi. Commonly used topical drugs are generally amorolfine, and oral drugs include terbinafine hydrochloride or itraconazole.

However, since the nails are thick, it is difficult for the drugs to fully penetrate. Generally speaking, the efficacy of topical drugs is limited and they are usually used as an adjunct to oral drugs. Oral antifungal drugs are generally safe, but whether each person can take the drug and how long they need to take it still needs to follow the doctor's advice. Never blindly buy drugs and take them on your own.

The cure rate of onychomycosis is not low, but the key is to persist in taking the medication.

This persistence is not just a matter of one or two days, but may take several months. Because our nails grow slowly, the penetration rate of topical drugs is relatively limited. Only persistence can completely kill the fungus and solve the problem from the source. But as long as you insist on taking the medicine, you can cure onychomycosis, and at the same time, you should also pay attention to preventing recurrence. You can treat the symptoms and the root cause, so that onychomycosis will not recur.

In addition, in more serious cases, nail extraction can indeed be used. However, this treatment method is painful and the wound is large, which makes it more susceptible to infection and recurrence of onychomycosis. Therefore, nail extraction should not be performed casually. You must follow the doctor's advice. After the operation, you must pay special attention to care and hygiene, so as not to suffer and not be cured.

03

How to avoid onychomycosis?

Even if you are not suffering from onychomycosis, you still need to be vigilant. The prevalence of onychomycosis in the population is about 10%. Although it is not as common as athlete's foot, it still needs to be taken seriously.

A high temperature and high humidity environment is very conducive to the reproduction of fungi. Therefore , summer and rainy season are seasons with a high incidence of onychomycosis, and special attention should be paid to the cleaning and management of the feet.

In addition, sweaty feet are also prone to onychomycosis. After all, wearing socks and shoes, plus the sweat secreted by your body, is enough to create a high temperature and high humidity environment under your feet, which is the favorite of fungi. Therefore, if you have a lot of foot sweat, you must change your shoes and socks frequently, and wear less shoes and socks that are made of materials that make your feet stuffy.

People who love sports also need to pay attention. After exercise, the feet will secrete a lot of sweat. If conditions permit, it is best to clean them and change socks and shoes. If conditions are really not possible, go home early after exercise and don't hang around outside for too long. This will not only leave enough space for fungi to grow, but may also stink to people around you.

When entering some public environments that may not be very clean, remember to protect your feet. For example, uncleaned swimming pools and busy public bathhouses may be infested with fungi, which can follow you home if you are not careful.

In addition, fungal infection is actually related to one's own resistance.

Many times, there are a lot of fungi and bacteria on our body surface, but they only have the opportunity to invade when our body's resistance is reduced or the barrier function is damaged.

Therefore, it is also important to eat regularly, exercise regularly, and maintain the body's resistance . In addition, when there are wounds on the feet or they are squeezed for a long time, it is also easier to get onychomycosis.

The cause of many people getting onychomycosis is that they injure their healthy nails during exercise and fail to deal with it in time, which leads to inflammation of the foot. Simply put, one of the keys to preventing onychomycosis is to avoid the feet being in a high humidity and high temperature environment suitable for fungal growth for a long time, leaving no opportunity for fungal reproduction.

Of course, blocking the spread of fungi is also important. Sharing daily necessities such as shoes, socks, and towels with others may lead to the spread of germs. Even among family members, it is best not to share such items, especially if your family members or yourself are already suffering from onychomycosis, you need to pay more attention to blocking the spread of germs.

Produced by | Science Popularization China

Author｜Hydra Science Author

Review | Xu Min, deputy chief physician of the Department of Dermatology, Zhu Xianyi Memorial Hospital, Tianjin Medical University